Weaving together various observations and musings -- usually pertaining to aspects of Hong Kong (life) but sometimes beyond.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Walking city

Hong Kong street view with

lots more pedestrians than vehicles :)

View of just one of a number of Hong Kong streets

whose very nature make them for pedestrians only

Over
the course of less than a week, I've viewed two Hong Kong movies with
lead characters who liked to walk about in the city. Although I wish it
weren't otherwise, it's rather unusual these days for me to watch two
Hong Kong movies in a week these days. But while it may be coincidental
that the Hong Kong movies I viewed last Sunday and earlier today
featured
main characters whose preferred mode of transportation were their own
two feet, I would subscribe to the idea that there are many people in
this territory who share their views on this matter.

Granted that Hong Kong is a place with a great public transportation network
that many people can't do without. At the same time, anyone who spends
time in the territory will realize that there are a lot of walking
enthusiasts here -- and while it's true enough that many people get more
pleasure from strolling (and/or hiking) about in the Hong Kong
countryside, I also do reckon that there are quite a number of folks who
enjoy traipsing about in the Big Lychee's urban areas as well.

For
my part, I enjoy walking in the built-up as well as less built-up areas
of "Asia's World City" since I find that in both cases, there
frequently is so much that's interesting to see when doing so. Granted
that I also do like taking buses, the MTR, mini-buses, trams, ferries,
etc. here (and love that they make it unnecessary for me to own and drive a car). But it really also is the case that I frequently willingly
devote some free time to exploring various parts of the city on foot.

Re the Octopus card: Yes, it's a really nifty thing. I thought every guidebook about Hong Kong mentioned it! Anyway, did your getting it free you from walking because with it, you were more inclined to take buses, not just the MTR?

YTSL--New York City resembles Hong Kong in (at least) two ways: both have excellent public transportation--although many New Yorkers will tell you in great detail just how horrible it is--and both are very "walkable" cities.

Manhattan has a network of subways, buses, car services, jitney cabs and a few other ways to get around and, again like HK, there are real disincentive to owning an automobile, all of which make walking a sensible and enjoyable way to get around.

I agree with the NYC-HK comparisons but I have to add that NYC is horrible for crossing the street. Even allowing for the fact that I often would be looking in the wrong direction for traffic I felt much safer as a pedestrian in Hong Kong.

Re New York City: is it because many of the streets/avenues are so wide and multi-laned?

Re films: er... if you checked the "Most recently viewed movies" part of my sidebar, you'll see I have been viewing MORE films lately -- an average of 5 a week! But now I'm watching a lot more films from other parts of the world besides Hong Kong... ;S

It is because there is no time allotted to cross without cars coming at you. The straight ahead traffic is stopped but you always have cars who want to turn while you are walking across. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten the walk sign, stepped out into the street only to have a car blast his horn at me because I was in the way of his turn.

You are right about the large areas of NYC that most pedestrians would avoid although as a percentage of the total it is probably smaller than, for example, Chicago (still my favorite city in the world). Memory is super-selective and I was recalling walking in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The walk over the Brooklyn Bridge (either way) is not to be missed but large sections of both boroughs should be.

YTSL and Diane--in addition to the built-in difficulties of crossing some streets--almost any of the north/south Avenues in Midtown, for example, there is also the wretched driving habits and lack of respect for pedestrians exhibited by many NYC drivers.

I know what you mean about those turning cars. Beijing was the city where I found that to be the most frightening -- with things made worse by the drivers appearing to have few problems with getting the car up portions of the pavement/sidewalk! ;(

Hi again ewaffle --

Re Chicago: I have distinct memories of walking south along State Street past Marshall Field's and a few blocks on thinking, "uh oh, I better head back up where I came from..." I also remember reading a book at college which stated that Chicago was (is?) the most segregated large city in the USA...

Oh, and the less said about Philadelphia with regards to "not great"/"no go" areas, the better! Though it's also true enough that I lived for years in a part of West Philly which many Penn students, etc., didn't dare to venture to! ;b